Gold coins and shipping strange things

The coin, one of only six ever made, went on sale for £3.8 million and was sold to British and Irish investors. Made by the Royal Canadian Mint, the coin is the size of a coffee table and features maple leaves on one side and a portrait of the Queen on the other.

It has a face value of one million Canadian dollars, equivalent to roughly £540,000. The Royal Canadian Mint launched the coin in 2007 to showcase its production facilities and steal the entry in the Guinness Book of Records for the world’s biggest gold coin. It is considered legal Canadian tender and is 99.999 % pure gold.

It has been estimated that shipping the coin from its vault in Ontario to a secure storage facility in London would cost approximately £17,400 – including insurance.

While shipping this coin will be inconvenient, it’s not the strangest item that’s needed to be transported over the past few decades. Here are a few more unusual deliveries that have been attempted:

A dead cat

The walls of a bank building

A hot shepherd’s pie

A time travel machine

Two beluga whales

A live hamster

A garden pond, including the water and fish

Whether you need to ship your excess baggage or something a little more complicated, 1st Contact Shipping has over 25 years’ experience in making sure items reach their destination safely and quickly. Get your free online quote here.